Diesel engines have been extensively used in various applications, such as locomotives, for example. Diesel engine exhaust gas is typically outputted from the engine (or a turbocharger connected to the diesel engine) and directed to an output, such as to the atmosphere for a locomotive diesel engine, for example.
Conventional applications employing diesel engines, such as locomotives, do not have optimized flow distributions necessary for effectively adapting aftertreatment devices and have them operate at peak performance. For example, as illustrated in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, conventional diesel locomotives may expel diesel exhaust gas 150 with a non-uniform cross-sectional profile 151 representative of the flow rate and/or particulate matter within the diesel exhaust gas. As shown in FIG. 1, the exemplary non-uniform cross-sectional profile 151 is greater at the center 154 of the cross-section, while it is reduced at the outside 152 of the cross-section, demonstrating a non-uniform flow rate and/or high particulate matter within the center cross-section of the diesel exhaust gas expelled from the diesel engine, for example. As further illustrated in FIG. 1, the conventional system may position an aftertreatment device 156, such as a diesel particulate filter, for example, in the path of the expelled diesel exhaust gas 150, in an effort to filter or chemically alter the diesel exhaust gas. However, since the flow distribution of diesel exhaust gas is non-uniform at the cross-section 154, and the aftertreatment device 156 provides equal resistance across its cross-section, a majority of the diesel exhaust gas 150 at the center cross-section 154 may flow through or load the aftertreatment device in a manner that reduces effectiveness and reliability of the aftertreatment device(s).
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a diesel engine exhaust system, including aftertreatment devices, to distribute the flow rate of diesel exhaust gas and the particulate matter uniformly across the cross-sectional profile of the aftertreatment devices, to enhance efficiency and reliability of the aftertreatment system.